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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24525844">Door Into Sunshine!!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElMexNico/pseuds/ElMexNico'>ElMexNico</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Love Live! Sunshine!!, Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Crossover, Divergent Timelines, Gen, Sonic is a human, Temporary Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:08:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,502</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24525844</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElMexNico/pseuds/ElMexNico</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Losing his life in Dr. Eggman's final attempt to get rid of him, Sonic is given a second chance in a different world and a different being. A new type of adventure awaits him as he befriends a group of school idols and helps them find their radiance. Will he be able to adjust to his new setting and situation? How well will he handle taking life slow for once? What can he and these idols learn from each other? Find out in Door Into Sunshine!!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Live Life..</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>High above the clouds, a familiar red biplane soared through sky carrying two recognizable passengers. Riding as pilot was the two-tailed, anthropomorphic fox known as Miles "Tails" Prower and standing atop the wing of the biplane was none other than the famous hyper-sonic, blue hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog.</p>
<p>"So Tails, any idea what ol' egghead is up to?" Sonic asked his sidekick over the loud roar of the biplane's engine.</p>
<p>Tails maintained his focus on piloting the plane. "I don't know, Sonic. The transmission I got from him didn't give any hint as to what he's up to. It only came with some coordinates to his base,"</p>
<p>Sonic crossed his arms and chuckled. "Seems a bit cocky for him to do, don't you think? Usually he tries to keep us away, but now he's practically inviting us over to party."</p>
<p>"Whatever it is, we should be careful," Tails looked over at his on-board radar and saw his plane's coordinates nearing their destination. "Okay Sonic, we should be coming up on Eggman's base!"</p>
<p>"Alright! Let's head down a bit and see what's up!" Sonic instructed his pilot friend.</p>
<p>"You got it!" The two tailed fox responded as he began to lose altitude on the aircraft.</p>
<p>As the biplane began to dive below the clouds, the duo began to see the visage of their destination. The unmistakable sight of a large, metallic tower bearing the infamous emblem of the "Eggman Empire" was looming just over the horizon.</p>
<p>Shielding his eyes with his hand from the sunlight, Sonic took a good look at the structure they were nearing. "Looks pretty average for an Eggman base. What do you think, Tails?"</p>
<p>Tails, in the process of leveling his aircraft, glanced over at the tower. "Knowing Eggman, it could be so much more,"</p>
<p>Sonic nodded in agreement, then readied himself to hop off the wing of the plane. "Well, guess it's time to see what the good doctor has in store for us!" he said jokingly.</p>
<p>"Wait!" Tails motioned for Sonic to halt. He then reached into a compartment in his cockpit and revealed a yellow, wristwatch-like device. "Take this wrist communicator with you. If Eggman has some trick up his sleeve, it's better to be safe than sorry," Tails instructed as he tossed the device over to Sonic.</p>
<p>Sonic caught the device, then proceeded to strap it to his left wrist. "Thanks buddy, now to go have some fun!" Sonic exclaimed as he jumped off the moving aircraft.</p>
<p>Now plummeting towards the ground, Sonic shifted into a diving position and angled himself to propel faster towards the Earth. Once he was a good distance near the ground, he curled himself into a ball and spun rapidly to land safely. With a loud thud, Sonic collided into the Earth and uncurled himself out of ball form, landing on his feet completely unharmed.</p>
<p>"Okay Tails, I'm on the ground. Be my eye in the sky in case Eggman tries to pull a fast one on me," Sonic spoke to the communicator on his wrist.</p>
<p>Tails' voice responded back to him through the device. "Roger that, Sonic! I'll let you know if something doesn't seem right!"</p>
<p>With some reassurance that his best friend was watching over him, Sonic began his trek towards Eggman's base at high speed.</p>
<p>Traveling at the speed of sound, Sonic was now nearing the base. Doing a quick scan of his intended destination, he noticed a large onslaught of robots defending the perimeter of the base. "Here we go!" he shouted excitedly as he picked up the pace.</p>
<p>Noticing the speeding blue hedgehog heading towards them, the defending robots assumed their battle positions. The sounds of different machine parts shifting positions filled the air as each one of Eggman's robots readied their ordnance.</p>
<p>As Sonic began to approach the enemy position, a wave of lasers beams and missiles began to converge on his position. Thinking quick on his feet, Sonic began evading the incoming fire and weaved in different directions to confuse his attackers. Once the opportunity presented itself, the blue hedgehog made a mad dash towards the army of robots.</p>
<p>Now within close range of the robots, Sonic began working on dispatching the bots. Sonic curled up into a ball and began spinning in place to charge up his famous "Spindash" attack. Once he was ready, he launched himself towards a large gathering of ground units. The loud sound of metal pinging could be heard as the curled up form of the hedgehog bounced off one robot to another in quick succession. When the last ground unit was taken care of, Sonic turned his sights on the flying robots.</p>
<p>"Alright, let's see if you guys can keep up with me," Sonic said with a confident grin on his face.</p>
<p>Almost instantly, the flying bots turned towards the blue hedgehog and headed in his direction. Seeing this, Sonic faced the direction of the nearby base and took off at high speed. The bots gave chase as the hedgehog began gaining distance from them. As he began quickly approaching Eggman's base, Sonic noticed the robots were in hot pursuit of him. With a sly grin on his face, Sonic picked up the pace to try to shake off some of the pursuing robots. With some of the robots being older models, they struggled to keep up with the speedy hedgehog and started lagging behind.</p>
<p>"Better luck next time!" Sonic teased the slower robots that were falling behind. With only a squadron of flying bots left, Sonic finally reached the entrance of Eggman's base. Entering the large tower, Sonic was met by tight, metallic corridors with defense turrets mounted on the walls. Detecting the hedgehog's presence, the turrets turned and took aim at him. Anticipating an attack from the base defenses and knowing he was still being pursued, Sonic quickly thought up a plan to get out of this situation. Before long, the mounted turrets began firing at the blue hedgehog.</p>
<p>"Time for a bit of friendly fire!" Sonic evaded the incoming fire from the turrets and leaped on to the wall on his left. As soon as his foot touched the wall, he pushed himself on the opposite wall and onto the top of one of the turrets. Sonic forcibly directed the still firing wall turret against the other turrets in the corridor. One by one, the wall defenses were destroyed by the turret controlled by Sonic. Not forgetting about his pursuers, Sonic turned the turret on the flying robots that were chasing him before and quickly dispatched them.</p>
<p>With room to breathe now, Sonic destroyed the turret he was on with a quick kick and continued his trek further into the base. "Okay Tails, I made it inside Eggman's base. See anything from up there?" Sonic asked his friend through his wrist communicator.</p>
<p>"Nothing interesting from my end. Still seems like your average Eggman base," Tails responded back. "I guess you'll just have to find Eggman himself and see what he wants."</p>
<p>"I guess so. Keep me posted if you see anything weird, okay bud?" Sonic instructed Tails.</p>
<p>"Don't worry, I will!" Tails eagerly acknowledged.</p>
<p>Back to the task at hand, Sonic continued his search for the evil scientist as he quickly made his way up the corridors and further up the tower. "Eggman's gotta be at the top of this thing," Sonic thought to himself as he neared the final story of the structure.</p>
<p>At the final stretch of the building, Sonic came across a large, metal door bearing the Eggman Empire emblem on it. "Alright, this has gotta be where he's at," Sonic said to himself as he curled up into a ball and prepared to do a spindash. Once he was ready, Sonic blasted into the metal door, leaving a large hole through it.</p>
<p>Now inside the room, Sonic stood on his feet and examined his surroundings. The enormous, dark, metallic room was notably empty aside from a large dome in the center. About to take a step further to investigate, Sonic was stopped in his tracks by the lights flickering on and the hole in the door behind him being sealed by some sort of metal shutters.</p>
<p>"Ah Sonic, I see you got my invitation!" a familiar menacing voice echoed through the room.</p>
<p>Surprised, Sonic looked around to find the source of the voice. He looked up and saw an entrance on the ceiling where the familiar floating pod of Dr. Eggman descended into the room. With a smirk, Sonic finally responded back, "I wouldn't wanna miss the party, Doc. Your welcome needs a little work though."</p>
<p>Now with his pod hovering feet above the ground, the evil scientist gave Sonic a stern look. "Alright, enough with the formalities! Let's get to business, hedgehog," Eggman said with a serious tone of voice.</p>
<p>"Geez, what's with cranky attitude, Eggman?" Sonic responded, not bothered by Eggman's serious demeanor. "So, what's the deal this time? Gonna awaken some new demigod? Capture another alien planet for energy? Oh, maybe a new robot clone of me?" the hedgehog jokingly bombarded Eggman with questions.</p>
<p>Eggman's expression did not change at the hedgehog's constant questioning. "To tell you the truth Sonic, I'm simply getting tired of this."</p>
<p>"Huh? What do you mean?" Sonic questioned.</p>
<p>"No matter what I do I just can't defeat you. It doesn't matter how many gods I awaken, how many robots I build, or how many copies of you I try to make, nothing works," Eggman replied back, keeping a straight face as he talked. "My patience has worn thin, Sonic."</p>
<p>Confused by Eggman's statement, Sonic gave the doctor a puzzled look. "So what? You're giving up?" the blue hedgehog asked.</p>
<p>"I intend to, but I want to have one final battle with you Sonic, so that I can at least go out with some dignity to my name," Eggman explained as he maneuvered his vehicle to the center of the room. Once at the center, Eggman clicked a button on his pod's console which caused the dome in the room to rise. The dome opened to reveal a circular dock for Eggman's pod and panels on the side containing seven recognizable glowing gems.</p>
<p>"Wait, the Chaos Emeralds!?" Sonic exclaimed, taken aback by Eggman's reveal. "How'd you collect them without anyone knowing?" Sonic questioned the evil scientist.</p>
<p>"It's quite simple! I knew you and your friend Tails could track them, so I masked the energy of the Emeralds and kept them safe in my hands," Eggman explained as he set his vehicle into the dock in the center of the room. A protective glass dome enclosed Eggman within his pod and connected with the machine holding the Chaos Emeralds.</p>
<p>Sonic reached over to his wrist communicator to speak to his best friend. "Tails, Eggman's got the Chaos Emeralds!"</p>
<p>"That's not good! Sonic, be careful!" Tails responded in a worried tone.</p>
<p>"I will Tails, don't worry," finishing his communication with Tails, Sonic took a battle stance. "Alright Eggman, let's do this!"</p>
<p>"It would be my pleasure, Sonic," Eggman replied as he pressed a button on his console. His machine revealed several mounted cannons and missile batteries hidden within some sliding panels. Without warning, Eggman commenced his attack by launching several homing missiles directed at Sonic.</p>
<p>Not wasting any time, Sonic began to run from the missiles to avoid being blasted. Not having much room to avoid attacks, Sonic could only go around Eggman's machine. After a short period, the missiles that were pursuing him exploded behind him. "Now's my chance," Sonic said to himself. Sonic approached Eggman's position, jumped up, and curled up into ball form to home in on Eggman's pod. To his surprise, Sonic was knocked back by a barrier and fell flat on his back.</p>
<p>"Don't think I'm going to go easy, hedgehog! I intend on going all out," Eggman warned the blue hedgehog. Pressing another button, Eggman aimed one of his cannons at Sonic and his machine began drawing energy from the Chaos Emeralds.</p>
<p>Sonic noticed the cannon aimed at him and immediately got back up. The cannon shot a massive ball of energy at him, which prompted Sonic to spindash out of the way. Barely evading it unscathed, Sonic glared at the scientist's machine for a moment as he thought of what to do. "That was a close one.. I gotta find a way to damage that machine," the hedgehog wondered.</p>
<p>"Sonic! Something's wrong!" the familiar voice of Tails rang out from his wrist communicator.</p>
<p>Eggman took the opportunity to fire off more missiles at the hedgehog and readied another shot from the energy cannon.</p>
<p>Sonic reacted quickly, running from the incoming missiles and anticipating the next shot from Eggman's energy cannons. "Tails, what is it?" He asked Tails through his communicator while still on the run.</p>
<p>"I just detected a huge spike of energy from the Chaos Emeralds' location!" Tails warned. "I think Eggman must be harnessing the power of the Emeralds!"</p>
<p>"Let's see you avoid this!" Eggman fired another blast of energy at the hedgehog's path.</p>
<p>Thinking quick, Sonic did a quick turn to avoid the blast. Quickly glancing over to Eggman's position, he noticed the Chaos Emeralds were glowing brighter as the machine charged another energy blast. The missiles were still hot on his tail and Eggman was charging up yet another blast. Taking advantage of the cool down between shots, Sonic turned towards Eggman's location to direct the missiles towards him. Sonic jumped up and performed a homing towards the doctor. The barrier again caused him to bounce off, but it was disrupted by the missiles detonating.</p>
<p>"What? No way!" Eggman exclaimed, seeing his barrier had been temporarily disabled.</p>
<p>With a new window of opportunity, Sonic performed another homing attack on the machine. The hedgehog collided with the unprotected machine, doing some noticeable damage to the hull. "Yes!" Sonic celebrated his successful hit.</p>
<p>"Don't get too cocky Sonic, that was just a lucky shot!" Eggman warned the hedgehog as he prepared another attack.</p>
<p>Now knowing how to deal with his foe, Sonic once again dashed around the room. A larger barrage of missiles was sent Sonic's way and Eggman's energy cannons were each charging up a shot. That's when Sonic noticed that the Chaos Emeralds were glowing much more intensely than before. Before he could think, Eggman fired several energy blasts at him, prompting him to do quick maneuvers to avoid being hit. Seeing an opportunity to attack, Sonic once again performed a homing attack on the machine, again being deflected by the barrier. The pursuing rockets were again directed at the barrier, colliding and detonating on it to disable it. With another homing attack, Sonic damaged Eggman's machine.</p>
<p>"That's it! I'm using this machine's full potential!" Eggman growled as he flicked some switches, causing the Chaos Emeralds to illuminate the whole room.</p>
<p>"Sonic, these readings I'm getting from the Chaos Emeralds are through the roof!" Tails cried out though Sonic's communicator. "I don't like the looks of this!"</p>
<p>Back on the ground, Sonic glared at the now powered up machine in anticipation for Eggman's next attack. "Me neither. Something tells me Eggman isn't exactly being honest with what he told me." Sonic replied back.</p>
<p>"Alright hedgehog, let's see how well you fare against everything this machine has!" Eggman taunted as he began pressing several buttons on his console. The energy cannons shot constant beams that reached the walls of the room and were slowly rotating around. Meanwhile, missiles were being fired erratically all over the room.</p>
<p>Sonic, now dealing with an unpredictable attack pattern, did his best to avoid the missile barrage and the spinning energy beams. Running in sync with the speed of the beams, Sonic narrowly avoided the exploding projectiles as he thought of a new method of attack.</p>
<p>"What's wrong Sonic? Out of options?" Eggman teased the running hedgehog.</p>
<p>Still evading projectiles, Sonic had formed an idea. As a missile headed his way, Sonic stopped in his tracks and performed a quick kick on it to redirect it towards Eggman's machine. The missile rocketed towards the mad scientist's position and, to Sonic's surprise, hit Eggman's pod head on.</p>
<p>Shaken up by the explosion, Eggman scrambled to figure out why his barrier ceased to function. "N-No, the barrier isn't receiving enough energy to function!" Eggman cried.</p>
<p>"Cool, this makes things easier," Sonic slid underneath the incoming energy beam, then repeated his previous action on another incoming missile. The missile hit Eggman's machine once more, damaging it further. Sliding again to avoid the beam, Sonic redirected three more missiles with some swift kicks at Eggman. The rocketing projectiles detonated on Eggman's machine, this time disabling the missile batteries and disrupting the energy flow.</p>
<p>"No! This can't be!" Eggman cried as he attempted to bring his defenses back online.</p>
<p>"Okay Eggman, time for you to scramble!" Sonic announced as he curled up into ball to perform a spindash. As he spun in place, glowing orbs of light surrounded him. Once he was ready, Sonic flung towards Eggman at light speed and performed several consecutive hits on the machine. Eggman could do nothing except bounce in his seat from the recoil of Sonic hitting his pod. With one final hit, Sonic bounced off the machine and landed on the ground.</p>
<p>Eggman's machine had reached it's limit, emitting smoke and sparking. Eggman himself was slumped over his control panel, disoriented from Sonic's attack.</p>
<p>Sonic looked over at the defeated scientist's machine and noticed the Chaos Emeralds hadn't stopped glowing. "Hey Tails, I beat Eggman, but the Chaos Emeralds are still going crazy," Sonic informed Tails over his communicator.</p>
<p>"I'm still getting powerful readings from them. Try seeing if you can remove them from where they are," Tails instructed his friend over the communicator.</p>
<p>"Got it!" Sonic responded as he rushed over to the now out of commission machine.</p>
<p>"Not so fast, you blue pest!" the voice of Eggman called out. The doctor has regained consciousness and he pressed a button on his machine.</p>
<p>Before Sonic could reach the Chaos Emeralds, the glowing gems had ejected from their slots in their machine and began floating above. Seconds later, seven panels on the ceiling had opened, revealing the outdoor sky. Then, the Chaos Emeralds shot up through the exits and vanished into the heavens. The panels on the ceiling then sealed shut.</p>
<p>"Huh? What was that about Eggman? Didn't you say you were done after this fight?" Sonic questioned the scientist's actions.</p>
<p>"Hah! Did you really think I would just give up so easily?" Eggman answered. "No Sonic, this was all simply a ruse to launch my real plan!" Clicking a button on his control panel, the machine rose up to reveal a large, cylindrical device with a timer display on it.</p>
<p>"Sonic, I just saw the Chaos Emeralds leave Eggman's base and that energy reading I was getting hasn't gone away!" Tails cried out from Sonic's wrist device.</p>
<p>"Okay Eggman, what do have up your sleeve? Sonic demanded.</p>
<p>"I'm glad you asked, Sonic. What I have here is your doom!" Eggman explained. "During that fight, every time my energy cannons fired a blast at you, a large quantity of the energy was redirected into this beauty right here," Eggman gestured towards the device below him. "Now imagine how much of the Chaos Emeralds' energy was collected when I fired continuous blasts. I can tell you it's enough to blow up a whole city! Hahaha!" He boasted with a manic laugh.</p>
<p>Sonic angrily clenched his fist at Eggman's threat. "That's pretty cowardly Eggman, even for you!"</p>
<p>"Maybe so, but like I said before, no matter how many plots to defeat you I come up with I just can't defeat you. So I figured I needed to play dirty!" Eggman monologued to his enemy. "This little contraption here is a bomb designed to use the energy collected from the Chaos Emeralds to create an explosion big enough to end you for sure," Eggman continued his speech as he hit a button on his console.</p>
<p>The screen on Eggman's bomb flickered on and revealed a time of two minutes. Seconds later, it began emitting electricity and heating up the room.</p>
<p>
  <strong>2:00 Remaining</strong>
</p>
<p>"Now Sonic, you better say your prayers because I got rid of any possible escape option, including the Chaos Emeralds," Eggman warned Sonic. "Goodbye Sonic the Hedgehog! Gahahaha!" the evil scientist detached his vehicle from it's dock and began floating away in it. The door on the ceiling where he originally entered from reopened and he ascended towards it.</p>
<p>"Not so fast egghead!" Sonic cried out to his arch-nemesis as he charged up a spindash. A few seconds later, Sonic shot up into the air in ball form and collided into Eggman's flying pod, knocking it off course.</p>
<p>Eggman's pod wobbled as it took the full force of Sonic's attack and it crashed back down into the room. Disoriented, he looked up only to see his escape route had now closed. "No! You blue fool! Now you've trapped me in here with you!" Eggman exclaimed in a panicked tone.</p>
<p>Landing back on the ground, Sonic looked over at the disoriented Eggman. "What do you mean Eggman? Don't you have some shut off switch or somethin'?" Sonic asked the scientist while keeping searching around for a way out.</p>
<p>"Did you not hear what I said? I made sure to get rid of every possible escape option, including making the bomb unable to be stopped," Eggman explained. "In about two minutes, the bomb will detonate and completely wipe out anything within 10 mile radius!"</p>
<p>
  <strong>1:30 Remaining</strong>
</p>
<p>"No way! There's gotta be a way to get out or stop the bomb," Sonic suggested. He looked over at the shut entrance across the room, wondering if he could penetrate it with a spindash. Rushing over to the sealed metal door, Sonic prepared a spindash. Once ready, he blasted into the door with incredible force, but to Sonic's dismay, it did not damage it. "Dang, not a scratch!" Sonic cursed, disappointed at the failure of his plan.</p>
<p>"Sonic, what's going on? There's a worrying amount of energy being detected from where you are!" Tails' voice rang out from Sonic's communicator.</p>
<p>"Tails, Eggman rigged a bomb to explode using the energy from the Chaos Emeralds and we're both trapped in here. There's about a minute and a half before it goes off, so I need you to get as far away as possible," Sonic explained the situation to his friend.</p>
<p>"What? No, maybe there's something I can do to get you out of there!" Tails suggested.</p>
<p>"I appreciate the offer buddy, but I don't wanna risk you dying too," Sonic said, denying Tails' offer to help. "Just go, I'll do my best to try to get me and Eggman out of this mess!" He said trying to reassure his friend.</p>
<p>A few seconds of silence passed without a response from the communicator before Tails eventually spoke. "Alright, I'll get out of here. But please make it out, okay Sonic?" Tails requested with an uneasy tone in his voice,</p>
<p>"I can only promise that I'll do everything I can to get out of here. Stay safe Tails," Sonic responded to his friend before shutting off the communication.</p>
<p>
  <strong>1:00 Remaining</strong>
</p>
<p>The bomb was now emitting sparks of electricity much more erratically and the room was illuminated in a shade of red as it began to get hotter.</p>
<p>"It's no use Sonic, there's only moments left before we're both wiped off the face of the Earth," a defeated Eggman spoke.</p>
<p>Sonic frantically looked around for some sort of solution, but couldn't see any viable options left. He looked over at the bomb and began to approach it. "There's gotta be some way to stop this thing or maybe delay it," Sonic wondered. With no other options, Sonic charged at the bomb, only to be stopped in his tracks by the powerful electricity of the bomb shocking his body and sending him flying back. Disoriented and in pain, he got back up and attempted the same move again, only to be knocked back again.</p>
<p>Eggman watched the blue hedgehog futilely try to stop the bomb a few more times before he spoke up. "No matter how many times you try to do that, it won't delay the inevitable," Eggman informed Sonic with a somber tone in his voice.</p>
<p>
  <strong>30 Seconds Remaining</strong>
</p>
<p>Only half a minute remained before the bomb was set to detonate. The electricity was now engulfing the bomb and the room began had reached high temperatures.</p>
<p>Sonic, now bruised, exhausted, and slightly burned from the electrical shocks, stood up and stared down the bomb with a look of defeat. "So, there's really nothing we can do stop this huh?" Sonic asked Eggman.</p>
<p>"Unfortunately," Eggman remarked.</p>
<p>Looking at his wrist communicator, Sonic decided he would send one last message to his best friend. "Well Tails, looks like my luck ran out this time. Don't think I'll make it out of this one, so I'm counting on you to keeping going for me and to keep everyone safe. Thanks Tails, for being a cool friend," Sonic pressed a button on his communicator and ended the transmission.</p>
<p>"If it's worth anything, I feel ashamed of putting the both of us in this situation. Maybe pulling this underhanded plot into motion was a bad call," Eggman admitted to his arch-nemesis.</p>
<p>
  <strong>10 Seconds Remaining</strong>
</p>
<p>Sonic stared at the bomb as it's chassis began glowing and the heat from it was becoming unbearable. Despite his inevitable fate, Sonic managed to crack a smile amid all that was happening around him. "You know Eggman, even though these are my last moments, I can go knowing I lived my life to the fullest and the world can take care of itself," Sonic explained to the evil scientist.</p>
<p>Eggman, despite his history with the blue hedgehog, couldn't help but respect his statement. "Well Sonic, I will say that it was a pleasure being your enemy. It's just a shame it has to end like this. Though, I wish I could be as fulfilled in life as you are," Eggman admitted to his rival.</p>
<p>
  <strong>3..</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>2..</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>1..</strong>
</p>
<p>"Goodbye Sonic the Hedgehog, my admirable adversary.."</p>
<p>Time seemed to slow around Sonic as the bomb had finally detonated and the blast began to spread outward in flash of white. Sonic stood there motionless as he watched the blast approaching him. "Guess this is it huh? The final act. Oh well, guess all good things have end eventually. Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and everyone else, I wish you all the best. Goodbye, guys.." Sonic squinted as he started to feel the stinging pain of the blast all over his body. Before he shut his eyes for the last time, he saw something that he knew was out of place. A pristine, white feather drifting towards him..</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Can You Feel the Sunshine?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sonic awakens somewhere unfamiliar after what he presumed to be his last moments alive. Trouble ensues in a case of misunderstanding and he meets a couple of new faces. But wait, something is different about our blue hero...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A long wait for this, but better late than never I suppose. I'll be honest, I started getting cold feet with this idea but I eventually got back into it. It's not the most... Conventional idea, but I do hope you can at least give it a chance and be open-minded about it. Now, let's get on with the next chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A bright white flash was all Sonic remembered seeing before what he assumed was supposed to be his death. The next thing he knew, he was high above the clouds under the night sky and he felt different.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ugh, what’s going on?” Sonic asked no one in particular as his vision cleared and he was able to get a view of where he was. Once he realized what was going on, Sonic could only mutter one phrase as he began to understand the gravity of his situation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah crap, not this again..”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before he could even think, he felt the awfully familiar feeling of gravity pulling him down towards the earth. As he descended further down, the land below became more visible to him. He was able to make out a large sprawling sea and a large island with a few buildings lining the shores.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I hope I don’t drop into the water!” Sonic cried as he tried desperately to change his trajectory. To his relief, he quickly noticed he wasn’t falling towards the ocean but rather the inhabited island he saw instead. However, his relief was short lived as he still had the hard ground to worry about.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With only a few seconds left between Sonic and a painful date with the ground, Sonic closed his eyes and braced for impact. Not too long after, he felt his body smash headfirst through some glass window and then face planted into some hardwood floor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic laid there in pain for a few seconds before attempting to push himself off the floor. As he struggled to pick himself, he couldn’t help noticing his body felt oddly heavier than usual.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Man, that’s probably my worst landing yet,” Sonic joked as he tried to stand. “Gotta remember to stick those landings next time.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Finally on his feet, Sonic noticed his line of sight was considerably higher up than he was used to.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What the.. Did I grow taller?” Sonic questioned himself as his hand went to grasp his forehead due to the pain he had.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Clutching his forehead, Sonic definitely knew something about his body was different as his fingers were gloveless and his facial structure was radically different. Touching his face a bit more, he could feel his facial features were more.. Human.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well.. That explains it,” Sonic sarcastically remarked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While it certainly wasn’t his first time being transformed into something else, Sonic was annoyed at the fact that he was in a similar situation again. Regardless, he looked down at his body to see what else had changed. To his relief, whatever higher being that did this to him actually bothered to give him a set of clothing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His upper body was covered by a blue track jacket with a white shirt underneath. Covering his lower body was a pair of slim jeans that fit the length of his legs almost perfectly. The only thing that didn’t seem to change was his shoes, which were nearly identical to his regular kicks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Huh, neat..” Was all Sonic could say in reaction to his clothing. “Now... Just where the heck am I?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic scanned his surroundings to figure out where he ended up. From what he could see in the dark of the night, he seemed to have landed inside some kind of shop. The walls were decorated with several marine decorations and there were all kinds of diving gear on display. Not too far from him was what remained of a large, glass window that he no doubt smashed through.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s no good,” Sonic thought. “I should probably get outta here before someone thinks I’m here to rob the place or something.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Before Sonic could follow through with his thoughts, the lights of the building flickered on, alerting him that something or someone had heard the noise.</p>
<p><br/>“Hello? Who’s there?” A female voice called out from another room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Crap..” Sonic mentally cursed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Minutes earlier…</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It had been a long day for Kanan Matsuura. She had spent a considerable amount of time catching up on her schoolwork and was about ready to go to bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Ahh, finally got everything done for the week!" Kanan celebrated as she leaned back in her desk chair.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After taking a moment of relief, she stood up from her chair and stretched her arms. After a long study session, Kanan turned off her desk lamp and made her way to her bed. Before getting the chance to lay down, her phone vibrated which prompted her to check it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Message:</b>
</p>
<p><b>Kurosawa Dia</b>: “Have you talked to Mari yet?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan stared at the message and remembered her reunion with her old friend, Mari Ohara, earlier that day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>I’m here to see you! And to scout you!”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>Scout me? For what?”</em></p>
<p>
  <em><br/><br/>“For Uranohoshi’s school idol group when you come back to school!”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Those words had been stuck in Kanan's mind all day. She had wanted for her friend to take full advantage of her opportunities, yet she was back in her hometown chasing the past. Not only that, but she was encouraging her two childhood friends down the same path. Kanan let out a frustrated sigh before responding to the text message.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Matsuura Kanan</b>: "Yea"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan left it at that, locked her phone, then hopped into her bed. She closed her eyes and snuggled up in her blanket.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Minutes passed as Kanan started to drift into sleep. There were no other sounds aside from the chirping of crickets outside and the soft crashing of the ocean on the shore. The silence was broken however by a loud shattering sound followed by a loud thud coming from the storefront of her family diving shop.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan’s eyes shot wide open and she sat up in her bed the moment she heard the commotion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What was that? Did it come from the store?” Kanan wondered as she got out of her bed and walked to her room’s door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Turning the doorknob and cracking the door open a bit, she looked to see if anyone was in the hallway. To her relief, the dark hallway was empty, but the rest of the house/shop wasn't in the clear yet. Kanan then exited to her room and carefully made her way to check the storefront. Once there, she stopped just a few feet away from the store proper and listened for any other noises.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The sounds of glass shards and other objects hitting the ground could be heard. Kanan also heard what sounded like someone talking to themselves in the other room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Could it be a burglar?" Kanan thought.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Whether she liked it or not, she knew that she had to at least see who or what had broken into her family shop. Kanan reached over to the nearby light switches and flicked on the store lights.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hello? Who's there?" Kanan called out into the adjacent room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>No response.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan had hoped for at least an answer, but unfortunately, it seemed like she needed to see who it was for herself. Gathering her strength, she rushed into the storefront proper to see who it was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Alright, who's in here?" Kanan demanded as she made her entrance.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To her surprise, she didn't encounter some dangerous looking thief. Instead, she was met with a pretty average looking teenage boy with blue, spiky hair.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The boy was taken aback by her entrance and did nothing but stare at her like a deer caught in headlights.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan took her eyes off him for a moment to see what the cause of the loud noise from earlier was. Not too far from the boy was the shattered remains of what was once her family diving shop's front window. Her eyes then darted back to the boy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Uh, h-hey, I know this looks bad but it's not what it looks like.." The blue haired boy tried to explain himself to her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before Kanan could start asking questions, her train of thought was interrupted by the voice of an older male calling out from down the hallway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Kanan? What's going on?" Asked the familiar voice of her father.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Right as she was about to answer, the boy in front of her bolted out of the store through the broken window and out into the night.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hey, wait!" Kanan pleaded but to no avail.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With a frustrated sigh, she went to go put on proper footwear to give chase to the mysterious intruder.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic was running at an uncomfortable "normal" speed. Not only that, but he had no idea where on Earth he was or where he was going. All he could really do was follow wherever the road took him and hope for the best.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Man, not even five minutes here and I’m already in some trouble,” Sonic joked as he ran. “I guess some things never change.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic glanced over his shoulder to see the blue haired girl from the shop he just fled from chasing after him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah great,” He groaned. “Now I’m gettin’ chased. I gotta shake her somehow..”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan couldn’t believe she had to chase after someone in the middle of the night. Nevertheless, this guy had done property damage to her family’s business and she needed answers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey!” She called out in an attempt to get his attention.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan, despite her physical fitness, was having trouble keeping up with the stranger.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is this guy an olympic runner or something?” She commented.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Either way, she knew where he was heading and she knew he would eventually run out of land to run on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic turned his attention back to the path ahead and noticed a bend on the road which led right. He quickly swerved right as soon as the path directed him and noticed some sort of docks up ahead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan realized the boy was heading towards the ferry port, which meant she could cut off rather than continue directly chasing him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As soon as she could, she took a left right before the port proper and ran under the shade of another building that was nearby.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He’s taking the long way around,” Kanan thought as she observed the boy from afar. “I can stop him when he makes his way around.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At the opposite side of the path she took, Kanan ducked behind cover and waited until she heard footsteps heading her way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic glanced over his shoulder as he made his way onto the wooden platforms. To his surprise, he didn’t see his pursuer anymore.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Heh, guess she gave up!” Sonic chuckled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic continued his run on this path which looped back around to land.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m home free now!” Sonic thought as he quickly approached the end of the other docks area.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan could finally hear footsteps heading her way. She popped out from where she was hiding and blocked the path with her arms stretched out. The blue haired boy was heading towards her, but the sight of her blocking his path didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He’s got nowhere to go,” Kanan thought as the blue haired boy approached her. “Even if he goes back the way he came from, I can just block him off again.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic saw the girl again in the way of his path and another path he didn’t see before. He felt a bit stupid because he didn’t see that way before, but had to admit it was smart of her to use the knowledge of the place to try to outsmart him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not bad,” Sonic commented on his pursuer’s tactic as the distance between the two quickly closed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two locked eyes as the gap between them closed like two predators about to duke it out. As Sonic approached Kanan, a cocky grin formed on his face. Kanan did not falter however, as she stood her ground and smiled with confidence in return.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before Kanan could react, Sonic used his momentum to leap onto the nearby wooden railings and then did another jump with a flip to completely bypass Kanan’s trap.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan could only watch as her plan to stop Sonic in his tracks failed. Sonic added insult to injury by giving her a big cocky smile as he leapt over her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nice try, but you gotta wake up pretty early to pull one past Ol’ Sonic,” Sonic mentally remarked on the girl’s failed attempt to stop him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic, now on the ground, continued his trek to try to escape and find out where he was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan stood dumbfounded for a second before shaking it off and going to chase after the boy again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well.. That happened,” She said, feeling a bit salty about what happened. “But if he’s going where I think he’s going, he’ll have to stop eventually.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan quickly caught up to the boy and kept her eye on him in case he tried anything else.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic once again had to look over his shoulder to see if he was still being chased. Sure enough, the girl was still hot on his trail.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This girl isn’t giving up,” Sonic noted. “Let me try something..”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic slowed down his pace a bit to get close enough to the girl and started to run backwards as if it were nothing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey! Think we got off on the wrong foot!” He yelled out to the girl as he kept running. “My name’s Sonic, what’s your name?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan, confused and stunned that this guy was actually running backwards, accepted the friendly gesture.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s Kanan!” She responded as they both continued running.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Glad that his friendly gesture was returned, Sonic smiled at her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, Kanan, how ‘bout a bet?” Sonic suggested to Kanan. “If you can catch me, then I’ll do whatever you want. If not, then I get to walk away from this. How’s that sound?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was clear to Kanan that this “Sonic” guy had no clue how faulty his bet was. Nevertheless, she knew it wasn’t a matter of if he stopped, only when. Kanan confidently smiled back as she knew this was an easy bet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sure, that sounds fair.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sweet!” Sonic grinned as his challenge was accepted. “Let’s go!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic turned around to face the correct direction and began to pick up his speed again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan maintained her speed as she knew she didn’t have to worry about Sonic getting away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The pair continued making their way on the edge of Awashima’s shore for a good while. Sonic of course was ahead of Kanan by a good bit, but Kanan was still keeping up regardless. Soon enough, the two approached a big hotel building.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The Oharas’ Hotel,” Kanan thought as she continued her chase. “No where else for him to go..”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic was in awe at the large building he saw. From what he could tell, it was a hotel, much nicer looking than the one he remembered in Station Square. His awe was however short-lived as he realized the location was a dead end. Sonic stopped in his tracks at what he assumed was a courtyard and scanned his surroundings for somewhere to go.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan caught up to Sonic and stopped a few feet away from him. She saw him frantically looking around. Knowing she had won their bet, Kanan couldn’t help but smile at her victory.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright, there’s nowhere else to go,” Kanan stated. “So I guess that means I win the bet.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Seeing no other way out, Sonic conceded and honored the bet he made with her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Heh, guess you did,” Sonic responded with a nervous chuckle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan exhaled after that impromptu workout and approached the defeated Sonic. Despite the situation, she had to admit the chase was at least a nice change of pace. However, she hadn’t forgotten the reason she was chasing this “Sonic” guy to begin with.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll admit, that was kinda fun. But you still damaged my family’s shop, so the least you can do is explain yourself,” Kanan explained.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic was a bit reluctant, but he always kept his word and he wasn’t about to break that streak. Admittedly, he was worried about how he was going to explain his presence in this place and who he actually was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright, a deal is a deal,” Sonic responded in agreement.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay. Let’s head back to my family’s shop,” Kanan motioned to him as she started walking away. “I’m sure my father is worried sick about me and would probably want a word with you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Reluctant, but not really having any other choice, Sonic followed her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two teens soon made their way off the hotel area on their way back to Kanan’s home.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Unbeknownst to both of them, a familiar blond girl had been watching the whole scene unfold from her hotel window.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmm, very interesting..”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Back at the diving shop...</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan had returned home with Sonic in tow and was met by her father patiently sitting on one of the chairs in front of the shop. She felt bad that he had to get up from his bed late at night, given his leg injury. Regardless, she knew her father would be the best one to handle this whole situation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Kanan!” Her father exclaimed. “Thank goodness you’re okay!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m fine, just went to go catch the one responsible for the damage,” Kanan explained while motioning to Sonic behind her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Getting a good look at what he assumed to be Kanan’s father, Sonic saw that he had a cast around his right leg and he held a crutch at his side. Obvious leg injury aside, he certainly didn’t seem like a pushover either as he looked physically fit. His face wasn’t too weathered and he still had a full set of dark blue hair on his head, so Sonic assumed he wasn’t too old.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The man got out of his seat using his crutch to stand and carefully approached Sonic.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well young man, care to explain what happened?” The man asked Sonic.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While no stranger to getting himself into trouble, in this situation, Sonic had to admit he was feeling some guilt. Sure, he didn’t purposely break into their home/business, but he still inadvertently did some property damage. He figured he should try to tell the truth and see what would happen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uh.. Would ya believe I fell out of the sky and into your shop?” Sonic responded, scratching the back of his head nervously.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That response only earned Sonic unamused looks from both Kanan and her father.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Look, just tell me the truth and I won’t have to call the authorities,” Kanan’s father explained in a less commanding voice than before.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic had to think about what he was going to say for a moment. They weren’t buying his explanation, even though that is what actually happened. He really did not want cops to get involved, especially not with him being a human. Sonic glanced over to Kanan who was patiently awaiting his response as well. Turning his gaze back to her father, he had come up with something.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well you see.. I was wandering around doing some.. Tricks. Then the next thing I know, I crashed into your shop,” Sonic explained as nonchalantly as he could. “I was worried I’d get accused of robbing the place, so I ran.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was silence as Kanan’s father evaluated Sonic’s story while keeping his eye on Sonic. He then turned his attention to his daughter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Kanan, what do you think?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan recounted the events that transpired earlier in her mind while taking what Sonic had said into account. Thinking back, she remembered him looking more confused than anything and his demeanor during their chase wasn’t at all malicious. He even voluntarily came back to the shop with her to explain himself. Crossing her arms and letting out a sigh, she gave her opinion to her father.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think he’s telling the truth,” Kanan answered sincerely. “He wasn’t in the process of stealing anything and he even introduced himself when I went after him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Really now?” Kanan’s father asked with a tone of interest as he turned his attention to the boy. “What’s your name?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My name’s Sonic,” Sonic proudly announced. “Look, I’m real sorry for breaking your store window, really.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The man closed his eyes, let out a sigh, then gave Sonic a stern look.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright, Sonic, I appreciate you being upfront with me. Unfortunately for you, a simple apology won’t fix our shop window.” Kanan’s father informed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Though glad the two believed his explanation, Sonic had to admit he wasn’t liking the implications so far.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“An apology is all I can really give you. I don’t exactly have any money or anything,” Sonic explained.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan’s father sighed and returned to his seat as he thought of how to resolve the issue. He grasped his chin while keeping his gaze set on Sonic.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What about your relatives? Are they able to work something out?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic was taken aback by the man’s question, but nonetheless, he answered it honestly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, my parents aren’t around..”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Both Kanan and her father’s expressions seemed to change after he uttered those words. It wasn’t something he had to answer often, but he did feel somewhat uncomfortable when he had to and this was one of those moments. Despite that, he never dwelled on it too much.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I see.. Sorry, for asking that..” Kanan’s father apologized. “How old are you and what are you even doing on Awashima?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, don’t worry, I’m not too beat up about it,” Sonic replied with a grin and a shrug to reassure the two. “As for your question, I’m 17 and I’m really just going wherever the wind takes me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Unable to think of anything else, Kanan’s father crossed his arms and let out a sigh of frustration while his eyes looked down at the ground.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, since you can’t pay up and you’re all alone, I think the best option is to have you stay here and call the authorities in the morning,” The man explained. “They’ll know how to settle all this.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic visibly tensed up at those words. Despite his best efforts to try to explain himself, it seemed like he was going to go through the law after all. As if being turned human and being sent to somewhere unknown to him wasn’t bad enough, now he was in this whole mess.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan, who had been standing by the whole time, had been weighing the whole situation in her mind. That’s when she remembered what Sonic had told her earlier</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>If you can catch me, then I’ll do whatever you want..”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait,” She commanded, which got both her father’s and Sonic’s attention. “I have something I want to suggest.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her father was surprised by her daughter’s sudden outburst but was nonetheless curious about what she needed to say.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When I was running after Sonic, he told me that if I caught him, he would do whatever I wanted,” Kanan recounted to her father. “So how about we have him work here?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Huh?” The two males reacted in unison.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Think of it,” She continued. “He works here, earns what he needs to repay the glass repair costs, and we would have an extra hand helping around.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well..” Kanan’s father trailed off in thought.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was a moment of silence as Kanan’s father took the moment to think about what Kanan had suggested.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic stood there in silence as he awaited the man’s response.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Another minute of silence later, the man turned to his daughter with a smile.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Okay Kanan, that sounds like a good idea.” Kanan’s father finally responded. “I’ll admit, I do feel a bit bad that you’ve had to handle a lot of the shop’s responsibilities on your own. Having another employee helping you would make me feel more at peace.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan’s only reaction was a cheerful smile while Sonic let out a huge sigh of relief.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The man got up from his seat with the aid of his crutch and approached Sonic. He made eye contact with him, but unlike the previous moments, he had a more relaxed facial expression.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright, Sonic,” the man spoke. “Since you made a promise to my daughter and you owe us a new shop window, I expect you to honor your word. On top of that, I want no more trouble from you, understand?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic crossed his arms and tapped his foot as he thought about the man’s and Kanan’s proposal. He had to admit, he wasn’t a big fan of working. Considering his circumstances, he wasn’t in much of a position to argue about it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A few seconds later, Sonic flashed both of them one of his signature thumbs up gestures.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright sir, I can’t promise that first part, but I will definitely honor my bet with Kanan!” Sonic proclaimed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well Sonic, as long you keep your word then it’s good enough for me,” The man happily replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan’s father simply smiled at his enthusiastic gesture before extending his free arm out to him for a handshake.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“By the way, you can just call me Mr. Matsuura. Welcome aboard!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Glad to join, Mr. Matsuura!” Sonic cheerfully exclaimed as he shook the man’s hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan let out a relieved sigh as the two males shook hands. She was glad they didn’t have to bring in a third party possibly put someone who was already struggling into even more trouble. Who knows what would really happen to him if they had decided to call the authorities on him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, since that’s all settled, I think I’m going to bed,” Her father said to the two teens as he began to make his way to the shop entrance. “Kanan, I want you to clean up the mess here and show Sonic where he’ll be staying.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright, that’s no problem,” Kanan replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll leave you to that then,” Her father opened the door and made a departing gesture with his free hand as he stepped into the building. “Goodnight you two!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As her father disappeared into the building, Kanan turned her attention to Sonic, who seemed to be more at ease at this point.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Whew, that was a pretty intense discussion. Don’t ya think?” Sonic joked in an attempt to break the previous tension in the air.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan couldn’t help but to crack a smile at his remark.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, I agree,” She replied. “But now that it’s done with, how about you help me clean up?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan gestured over to the broken shop window where the shattered remains laid inside and outside the shop floor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh yeah, sure thing,” Sonic replied with a stifled chuckle. “I do owe ya and I did break it, so it’s the least I can really do.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well thanks! I’ll go get some brooms to clean this all up,” Kanan happily replied as she made her way to the shop door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As he watched Kanan walk towards the shop, he couldn’t help but wonder what her motives were for keeping him from the cops or something called on him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey!” He called out to her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hm?” Kanan stopped in her tracks in response to Sonic’s outburst.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not that I don’t appreciate the save, but why’d you help me out?” Sonic asked Kanan with genuine confusion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kanan simply smiled at his question before she delivered her reasoning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Even though you damaged our store, you don’t come off as someone who would do that sort of thing on purpose,” Kanan explained. “That, and you seem to be down on your luck so I thought it would be wrong to give you any kind of harsh punishment.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Huh,” Sonic replied as he nodded and grasped his chin. “Well.. Thanks.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t mention it,” Kanan said as she shrugged it off. “Now, you just wait here while I go get the stuff we need.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With that, Kanan went into the shop which left Sonic alone outside. He sat down on the steps of the shop and let out a long sigh of relief.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Man, this has to be one the weirder nights of my life,” Sonic thought as he stared out into the ocean.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic was no stranger to wacky or weird endeavors, but this night was unlike many of his previous adventures. He was stuck in another body, had no clue where he was, and he barely evaded getting into serious trouble because of something he hadn’t done on purpose. Needless to say, it was an eventful night for him. Despite all that, he wasn’t going to let it get to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Looking up at the night sky, Sonic caught sight of the moon and realized something. The moon was different, or more specifically, it seemed intact. That’s when the realization had finally hit him. Wherever he was, it wasn’t the same place he was in before.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He thought back to the events of his battle with Eggman. His arch-nemesis had set up an elaborate scheme just to get rid of him. The last thing Sonic remembered happening was saying farewell to his best friend before an explosion consumed his body. By all accounts, he should be dead, yet here he was alive and in a different body. So did he really die in that fateful battle..?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before his mind could start wandering into darker territory, Sonic shook his head to avoid getting lost in his thoughts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay Sonic, you gotta look at the positives here..” Sonic said to himself as he moved away from any heavy thoughts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For all the negatives that were present, there were an equal amount of positives to keep Sonic’s spirit up. He wasn’t dead, he was still able to do basic functions like running, and he at least had somewhere to stay for the time being. Not to mention he wasn’t alone in this world, as he had two people who somewhat trusted him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Still, despite everything, he still had a few lingering questions on his mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why and how was I sent here? Will I ever get to go back home?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He took one more look at the moon as he remembered what he had instructed his friend to do before he was sent here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tails… I hope you’re okay, buddy.”</p>
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